Teething and Tantrums

Moselle - posted on 02/09/2009
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I have a 6 month old son who has been an angel since the day he was born. Slept through the night early on and all that... but in the last week he has become almost intolerable when he's awake. I'm pretty sure he's teething, but he throws temper tantrums like you wouldn't believe! Did anyone else have this same problem about this time?

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EVERYONE - Thanks for all your help! Shawn figured out how to crawl and promptly stopped throwing tantrums. He was just frustrated that he couldn't go anywhere, I guess. Thanks for all your support and suggestions! It was a rough few days but everything worked out!

Katie - No, no shots... we don't get vaccinated at all. The majority of the vaccines out there come from aborted fetal cell lines, and the ethical alternatives aren't widely available. We are very much pro-life, so won't get the vaccines. Plus, although people linked to the pharmaceutical politics won't admit it, many of the vaccines have been proven to actually harm more than they help. For example - kids who do NOT get vaccinated are 56% less likely to get ear infections, and are generally healthier. BUT, our biggest objection is the fact that the vaccines are created using other peoples' murdered babies. I won't go for it.

Hey! I feel your pain. Just keep trying different things until something works. I thought my daughter had an ear infection too because the teething tablets, orajel, rings, cold stuff, nothing was working. But, after 2 trips to the doctor to say her ears were fine, I knew that wasn't it. I gave tylenol and ibuprofin per my doctor alternately. They also get frustrated at this age too because I think they're figuring out that they can do things in their mind, but they lack the motor and verbal skills to get or do what they want. That is what a lot of my daughter's tantrums are about (6months on 02-15-09) She loves being on her belly, but she's frustrated the whole time because she can't get things that are out of her reach. Yesterday though she had a bad episode of diarrhea and then this morning, she put my finger in her mouth and was chewing and then OUCH! There were the beginnings of a little rough tooth! Good luck. I know the lack of verbal communication can be frustrating, but like I said, just keep trying different things until they work. I believe they might be throwing tantrums, not because they are being obstinate, but because they're just exerting their independance and trying to find their way. All the while they're also trying to tell us that their teeth hurt, want their diaper changed, their tired, hungrey, bored, who knows what else. Gook luck with this current challenge. Just try to fight it with patience, deep breaths, and love.

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Moselle - posted on 02/13/2009

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Ciny - thanks for the tip. We have started sign language using my own coaching and one of the Baby Einstein videos ("Baby's First Signs.") Shawn loves it, but the only problem is he likes the dang blue otter puppet on the video more than he likes the sign language. :-) Anyway, we are working toward sign language communication; but I have a feeling my baby's going to be more of a physical baby than a communicator. He likes to roughhouse and tumble a LOT more than he likes to vocalize.

My daughter is doing the same thing with little temper tantrums and I've found that those simple teething rings in the frig for a little gives her a lot of soothing in her gums. She's much calmer when she goes to town on that guy-plus they're at that age where they want to be mobile and it's frustrating to them that they can't get around on their own.....try to do things around the house with him so he can see what you're doing

This is a follow-up to Ciny's comment. If your baby and you are frustrated by not being able to communicate then I would look into sign language. Babies as young as 6 months can start to use sign language to tell you what they want. Many day cares have started using sign langauge in order to cut down on tantrums. Hope this helps.

Per the Hyland site - The amount of Belladonna alkaloids in teething tablets is minuscule, especially when compared to conventional medicine. Conventional medicines typically use 0.2 to 5 mg of Belladonna alkaloids per tablet as an anti-spasmodic – roughly 1,000 to 25,000 times larger than the quantities used in Hyland’s Teething Tablets. The side effects sometimes caused by conventional medicines delivering more than 0.2 mg of Belladonna alkaloids – such as dry mouth, blurred vision and urinary retention – are not associated with homeopathic medicines because of their minute dosage.

To put homeopathic dosages in perspective, typically a 10-pound child would need to ingest 1,000 Hyland’s Teething Tablets (at least 6 bottles of 125 tablets) to exhibit even the first possible side effect of Belladonna.

Both my son's teething situations have been horrible and nothing works that I've tried. I don't trust Hylands or any other homeopathic tablets if you do some research it's main ingredient bella donna has not been tested much on babies and it's not FDA approved. Be very very careful w/ orajel if it gets to your childs throat they are suffocate, I know a child who was rushed to the hospital becaus they turned blue because the orajel numbed and closed the babies throat. I only use suppository tyllenol or a bit of whiskey on the gums and nothing works in my opinion for either or my boys.

My daughter is working on teeth numbers 7 and 8 (she's been getting them 2 at a time). And every now and then we get a tantrum because her mouth hurts too. But I have a question, did he recently get a round of shots? My little girl usually deals with shots fine, but when she got her 1 year shots, for the next 2 or 3 days her behavior changed drastically. She would scream and not want anything to do with me or her daddy, and everything we tried just didn't work. For those few days all three of us got maybe 4 hours of sleep total. But for teething, we usually give her tylenol, and then either give her orajel or a teething ring. If he did just recently get shots, the only thing that worked for us was to just let her cry it out (which I don't really like to do), and gave her lots of stimulation to keep her mind off of whatever was stressing her. It worked maybe 25% of the time that she was like that.

I have to agree with some of the ther moms! My daughter went through the same thing and I kept putting it off thinking oh she must just be teething, but when I could not take her crying anymore I finally took her to the doctors and she had a double ear infection in both ears!!! I felt so bad and guilty because I really thought she was just teething! I know u said u dont give medications unless u have too(which we try not to either) but if he is really that upset and in pain a little tylenol will never hurt him! DOes he seem to be pulling on his ears or rubbing the side of his cheek? If so he might have an ear infection which many times looks like the same symptoms as teething! If he does not get better in a day or two I would call your doctor and have him seen! Hopefully its nothing but u just never know! Good Luck and hang in there!

actually i went thru the same thing a month ago.... and he had an ear infection. He would not lay down to sleep and he would not sleep thru the night anymore which was weird bc he slept from 9pm to 9 am. it was horrible!!! i got no sleep!!

Believe it or not- my son loved to chew on refrigerated dill pickle spears. It's soft, cold and he couldn't tear off pieces. Yes, he smelled like a pickle, but he didn't cry much.My daughter wouldn't touch them, but there are teething tablets on the market that are all natural called Hylands Teething tablets. They dissolve fast and they work for around 4 hours.

I am sorry that your little guy is having such a bad time. I do believe that a smart 6 month old can be throwing real temper tantrums. I do wonder about this because you said he was not soothed by you holding and rocking him. I would suggest that you see his doctor and make sure he does not have an ear infection or some other medical problem. Teething shoud NOT cause a huge change in behavior for more than a day or so.

Thanks, April. We generally shy away from medication if at all possible. I do use homeopathic teething tablets which seem to help - I'm just confused as to why he is throwing such horrible tantrums! I'm not sure if he's just in pain or if it's completely unrelated (like maybe boredom or something). He isn't even calmed by me rocking or hugging him anymore.

baby orajel works okay, it just wears off quickly so you have to reapply it often. Fortunately if it is teething, it only lasts a few days until the tooth pops through the gum. If it's teething, you may also notice diarrhea- not sure why but for my kids they always came hand in hand. if he seems to be in pain I would also try tylenol. good luck